Drug-related violence is escalating in the CBAG region as a
result of, in part, more aggressive measures that Mexican DTOs are
using while attempting to smuggle illicit drugs into the area from
Mexico. Law enforcement reporting indicates an increase in the
number and severity of assaults against U.S. border enforcement
officers and agents along the California-Mexico border. DTO members,
who often face severe punishment or even death if their shipment is
seized, are assaulting officers and agents more often with weapons
and vehicles to escape apprehension. Moreover, traffickers are
adopting aggressive tactics to distract law enforcement officers and
hinder their efforts of securing the border.

Retail drug distribution further contributes to drug-related
violence as well as property crime within the CBAG region. In the
San Diego metropolitan area, disputes between retail distributors
over distribution territories often result in violent criminal
activity such as assault, robbery, and homicide. Moreover, abusers
of illicit drugs often engage in property crime to acquire money to
purchase illicit drugs. The San Diego Police Department reports that
most addicts commit crimes such as identity theft, automobile theft,
shoplifting, or conducting prostitution operations to support their
addictions. Law enforcement officials report that a significant
portion of the drug-related criminal activity that occurs in the
region is methamphetamine-related and that identity theft, which has
significantly increased in the region over the past 5 years, is
largely perpetrated by methamphetamine abusers.

The high level of violence occurring in Mexico over control of
smuggling corridors also may contribute to escalating levels of
drug-related violence in the CBAG region, endangering law
enforcement officers and innocent citizens. Several law enforcement
officers in the Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico, areas have been
murdered; it is possible that U.S. citizens and law enforcement
officers in these border areas could be targeted in the future.
Areas along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, including San Diego, are
becoming embroiled in the wave of drug-related violence occurring in
Mexico. Some of the groups that transport illicit drugs, provide
safe houses, and smuggle weapons do so on behalf of or are
affiliated with Mexican cartels, including the AFO.